Central Point Software
Encyclopedia
Central Point Software, Inc. (CP, CPS, Central Point) was a leading software utilities maker for the PC
market, supplying utilities software for the DOS
and Microsoft Windows
markets. It also made Apple II copy programs.
, for which the company was named. Building on the success of its Copy II PC backup utility, it moved to Beaverton, Oregon
. In 1993 CPS acquired the XTree
Company. It was itself acquired by Symantec
in 1994, for around $60 million.
diskette
s. The first version, Copy II Plus v1.0 (for the Apple II
), was released in June 1981. With the success of the IBM PC and compatibles
, a version for that platform - Copy II PC (copy2pc) - was released in 1983.
CPS also offered a hardware add-in expansion card, the Copy II PC Deluxe Board, which was bundled with its own software. The Copy II PC Deluxe Board was able to read, write and copy disks from Apple II and Macintosh computer systems as well. COPY II PC's main competitor was Quaid Softwares CopyWrite, which did not have a hardware component.
CPS also released Option Board hardware with TransCopy software for duplicating copy-protected floppy diskettes.
In 1985 CPS released PC Tools, an integrated graphical DOS shell and utilities package. PC Tools was an instant success and became Central Point's flagship product, and positioned the company as the major competitor to Peter Norton Computing
and its Norton Utilities
and Norton Commander
. CPS later manufactured a Macintosh version called Mac Tools. CPS licensed the Mirror, Undelete, and Unformat components of PC Tools to Microsoft
for inclusion in MS DOS versions 5.x and 6.x as external DOS utilities. CPS File Manager was ahead of its time, with features such as view ZIP archives
as directories and a file/picture viewer.
CPS's other major product was Central Point Anti-Virus
(CPAV), whose main competitor was Norton Antivirus
. CPAV was a licensed version of Carmel Softwares Turbo Anti-Virus; CPS, in turn, licensed CPAV to Microsoft to create Microsoft Antivirus for DOS (MSAV) and Windows (MWAV).
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
market, supplying utilities software for the DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
and Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
markets. It also made Apple II copy programs.
History
CPS was founded by Michael Burmeister-Brown (Mike Brown) in 1980 in Central Point, OregonCentral Point, Oregon
Central Point is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. The population was 17,165 as of July 1, 2009 The city shares its southern border with Medford and is a part of the Medford metropolitan area...
, for which the company was named. Building on the success of its Copy II PC backup utility, it moved to Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton, Oregon
Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley.As of the 2010 census, the population is 90,267. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city...
. In 1993 CPS acquired the XTree
XTree
XTree is a file manager software originally designed for use under DOS. It was published by Executive Systems and first released on 1 April 1985, and became highly popular...
Company. It was itself acquired by Symantec
Symantec
Symantec Corporation is the largest maker of security software for computers. The company is headquartered in Mountain View, California, and is a Fortune 500 company and a member of the S&P 500 stock market index.-History:...
in 1994, for around $60 million.
Products
The company's most important early product was a series of utilities which allowed exact duplicates to be made of copy-protectedCopy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
diskette
Floppy disk
A floppy disk is a disk storage medium composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles...
s. The first version, Copy II Plus v1.0 (for the Apple II
Apple II series
The Apple II series is a set of 8-bit home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977 with the original Apple II...
), was released in June 1981. With the success of the IBM PC and compatibles
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
, a version for that platform - Copy II PC (copy2pc) - was released in 1983.
CPS also offered a hardware add-in expansion card, the Copy II PC Deluxe Board, which was bundled with its own software. The Copy II PC Deluxe Board was able to read, write and copy disks from Apple II and Macintosh computer systems as well. COPY II PC's main competitor was Quaid Softwares CopyWrite, which did not have a hardware component.
CPS also released Option Board hardware with TransCopy software for duplicating copy-protected floppy diskettes.
In 1985 CPS released PC Tools, an integrated graphical DOS shell and utilities package. PC Tools was an instant success and became Central Point's flagship product, and positioned the company as the major competitor to Peter Norton Computing
Peter Norton Computing
Peter Norton Computing, Inc., was a software company founded by Peter Norton. The first and most notable software package it produced is the Norton Utilities. Another very popular software was Norton Commander, especially the DOS version. In 1990, the company was acquired by Symantec. The...
and its Norton Utilities
Norton Utilities
Norton Utilities is a utility software suite designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer. The current version 15 of Norton Utilities Premier Edition for Windows XP/Vista/7 was released December 27, 2010....
and Norton Commander
Norton Commander
Norton Commander was a prototypical orthodox file manager , written by John Socha and released by Peter Norton Computing . NC is a file manager which provides a text user interface on top of DOS. It was officially produced by Symantec between 1986 and 1998...
. CPS later manufactured a Macintosh version called Mac Tools. CPS licensed the Mirror, Undelete, and Unformat components of PC Tools to Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
for inclusion in MS DOS versions 5.x and 6.x as external DOS utilities. CPS File Manager was ahead of its time, with features such as view ZIP archives
ZIP (file format)
Zip is a file format used for data compression and archiving. A zip file contains one or more files that have been compressed, to reduce file size, or stored as is...
as directories and a file/picture viewer.
CPS's other major product was Central Point Anti-Virus
Central Point Anti-Virus
Central Point Anti-Virus was a DOS-based antivirus program developed by former Central Point Software Inc. . It was partly adapted into Microsoft Anti-Virus's DOS and Windows versions , and merged into Norton Antivirus. CPS had licensed from Carmel Software Engineering in Haifa, Israel...
(CPAV), whose main competitor was Norton Antivirus
Norton AntiVirus
Norton AntiVirus, developed and distributed by Symantec Corporation, provides malware prevention and removal during a subscription period. It uses signatures and heuristics to identify viruses. Other features include e-mail spam filtering and phishing protection.Symantec distributes the product as...
. CPAV was a licensed version of Carmel Softwares Turbo Anti-Virus; CPS, in turn, licensed CPAV to Microsoft to create Microsoft Antivirus for DOS (MSAV) and Windows (MWAV).
List of CPS products
- PC Tools (Central Point Software)|PC Tools
- PC Tools for Windows
- Central Point Anti-Virus
- Central Point Anti-Virus for NetWare
- Central Point Backup
- Central Point Desktop
- Central Point Commute
- Copy II+
- Copy II PC
- Mac Tools (Central Point Software)
- More PC Tools
- LANlordLANlordLANlord was a DOS, Windows, and OS2 workstation management system originally developed by Client Server Technologies Group, which got seed funding from Microcom who ultimately later sold the LANlord group in February 1994 to Central Point Software .LANlord offered a client–server architecture...
- Deluxe Option Board